Fire service at hospital 68 times in year

The Fire Service were tasked to Craigavon Area Hospital 68 times over the past year, it has been revealed.

The figures were revealed after an Assembly question to the Health Minister.

Upper Bann MLA Joanne Dobson called on the DUP Health Minister to reveal the statistics after a spate of visits to the hospital in recent weeks by the NI Fire and Rescue Service.

It appears that most of the visits – 56 – were false alarms, while three were not false alarms but needed no further action.

There was one hazardous materials incident, one suicide attempt, one vehicle incident and three building incidents.

Two weeks ago the NIFRS were called on subsequent days over separate incidents.

A Trust spokesperson said: “Local people will appreciate just how busy the Craigavon site is every day and ensuring the safety of the hundreds of thousands of people who come on to the site each year is our absolute priority.

“There are ill and vulnerable patients in the hospital and we treat every incident very seriously and the Fire Service is contacted on each occasion as a precaution.

“A number of estates and development works are taking place on the site at present which adds to the complexity of an already busy site.

“We have robust fire detection systems, dedicated fire safety staff, compulsory fire training for each member of staff, simulated fire drills and a very vigilant workforce which means that if there is an incident, alarms are raised immediately and health and safety procedures activated.

“There have been a number of minor incidents on the Craigavon Area Hospital site recently for which the Fire Service has been in attendance. Thankfully no one has been injured through any of these recent events and whilst there has been some very temporary traffic disruption, no services were affected.

“As with any incident, a robust review of the Trust’s response is undertaken to identify key learning points and resulting actions.”